After battling COVID-19, there continues to be a probability for patients to suffer long-term symptoms, similar to headaches. While some could also be mild, others could disrupt one’s day by day routine. Experts have shared ways to administer the lingering symptoms, but in the event that they don’t appear to work, when is the correct time to call a physician?

Lingering Headaches

Long COVID is an umbrella term for post-COVID conditions characterised by a wide selection of symptoms that may last weeks and even months after infection. One of the crucial reported symptoms after the initial infection with the coronavirus is a headache. 

Headaches vary from patient to patient. While some experience mild pain, others suffer from extreme headaches that would get in the way in which of their day-to-day living. 

“COVID-19-associated headache can take several forms, ranging from a gentle and dull headache to an acute and worst-of-a-lifetime form of headache. Their durations of persistence also vary from patient to patient,” Joy Mitra, a neurology expert at Houston Methodist Hospital, told Lifehacker. 

In keeping with Mitra, COVID-19 seemingly worsens the condition in people susceptible to getting headaches before the infection. He said they find yourself belonging to the group with long-lasting headaches after surviving COVID.

“Individuals who have pre-existing migraine or suffer from various levels of stress of their day by day lives have been reported to be the worst subset of COVID survivors with long-lasting episodes of headache, even as much as six months from testing negative,” Mitra explained. 

When To Seek Help

When the long COVID headaches grow to be significantly painful and frequent, it’s best to hunt help from a physician instantly. Those with hypertension, stress disorders, insomnia and brain fog are advised to ask for skilled help. 

Mitra advised telling the doctor in regards to the frequency, duration and site of the headache, so a correct evaluation could possibly be done. That is crucial for the treatment or pain management program to be administered. In some cases, doctors may advise pain management therapy that doesn’t involve medications for a long-term solution to the lingering problem. 

General management strategies that would help relieve the pain, as beneficial by Mitra, include having a healthy food plan and enough sleep, staying hydrated and avoiding stress to assist reduce the frequency of headaches.